Tasha was laying next to Sargon, her small chest was raising up and down, she was sleeping peacefully. The same couldn't be said about the man next to her. Sargon could not find rest, not with Lilith next to him. No, she was more on top of him than just lying close. He felt his personal space being invaded. His shack was too small for free people but Lilith insisted with staying over the night.

He felt one of Lilith’s thick thighs resting on top of his legs, her bust rested on his chest and her arm crept up his body. He felt hot being sandwiched like that, and judging from Lilith’s rugged breathing she was too. He could even feel her irregular heartbeat. The lizard on top of him was in heat, but once again Sargon was too dense to come to that conclusion.

“Lilith, are you awake?” He asked fully aware that she was, her hand wouldn’t be caressing his bare chest otherwise.

Her hand jerked slightly and stopped moving.

“I know you are. Why are you so restless? Is it about something I’ve said in the tavern?”

“No…” She finally responded and then added after a brief pause. “Maybe yes.”

“Do you have second thoughts about it?”

“No, I am happy about it.” Her hand begun to caress Sargon’s chest once again.

“So then why are you clinging to me like this? I am not going anywhere, we will be together from now on.”

“Contrary, I feel like I might lose you.”

“We are a strong party and I won’t die easily, not then we have you with us.” Sargon stirred trying to find some space, he was feeling too warm. He was becoming sweaty and it made him self-conscious.

“No… I fear that someone will snatch you from me.” She said that with a hint of fear and jealousy in her voice.

“I see.” Sargon couldn't exactly understand what she meant by saying that. It was unlikely an ant will just whisk him away.

Lilith took a deep breath pressing her nose to his skin. “You smell nice.”

Her words made Sargon to almost jump up; he taught that there was no way his sweaty smell would smell nice. He hasn’t even bathed today. He tried to push her away from himself, but it was futile; she pressed her body to him even stronger.

“You aren't going anywhere.” She said it with a soft chuckle.

Sargon felt that she was once again teasing him; something Lilith would do since they were children. The only problem was that her teasing grew more sexual as they grew. Or was it a plus?

“Lilith… you are too close.” He had finally complained feeling her knee pressing on his crotch.

“And what are you going to do about it?” She whispered in his ear softly and added. “Do not stir too much you'll wake Tasha, she might misunderstand what is going on.”

“Fine.” Sargon had finally given up and decided to ignore Lilith’s teasing.

It took him a while to get used to Lilith being so close to him, but her moving hand and warm body began to feel relaxing after a while. He drifted to sleep leaving Lilith to her restlessness. He ignored her approaches just like that and the lizard-woman didn't press any further.

The morning came and the sun was already up in the sky, it was almost noon.

“Uuuu… Water. Sargon, water.” Tasha shook Sargon gently to wake him up.

He opened his eyes. “Morning. Over there, in one of our packs.” He pointed at the place where all of their belongings were stacked.

“Yes, of course.” Tasha rummaged inside one of the bags finding a water flask. She gulped it down emptying it completely.

Lilith was woken up too since Sargon had to roll her away from himself to stand up.

“Ehhh…” She got slightly startled since she was unused to be woken up by people. “Oh, it is you.”

She had even forgotten that she slept here, she thought she had dreamed the events of yesterday but then released that it was not the dream. Remembering what she did after Sargon fell asleep made her heart beat fast once again.

“I need a cold bath, see you later.” Lilith announced straightening her creased dress.

“Oh… Did sleeping with him had made you hot and bothered down there?” Tasha teased Lilith like she often would.

Unbeknown to beastkin this was actually the truth. Lilith got embarrassed like she had never been and just ran out of the shack without even retorting.

Sargon looked at Tasha with a puzzled expression, she just shrugged back at him adding. “Maybe, I have said too much.”

“She will come back, let’s get ready for today.” It was his intention to train in the dungeon as soon as possible.

He was getting good at it, and the money they were making was becoming something decent. He was finally making enough of it to afford gear and other stuff. All they needed now was to save enough for their own place.

…

The party ventured into the Babel Labyrinth Dungeon many times from there on but they haven’t yet made past floor five. However, a lot of things were achieved.

Currently, all four of them were standing in a large room filled with ant eggs. The eggs weren’t the reason they were here, their goal was to summon and kill [Ant Guardian]. It was a formidable enemy and they were ready for it.

Sargon was wearing armour made of [Armoured Ant chitin]. A single large piece of chitin protected his chest, he also had greaves and vambraces made out of smaller pieces, atop his head was an ant head for a helmet. The armour was sturdy and light so it didn’t hinder his movement at all.

There was little change in Lilith’s attire. She was wearing the same dress with a leather vest underneath the cloth. The only change was her claws, which now were clad in shiny metal improving resistance and sharpness. She didn’t use them often but then she did, her hands and feet became deadly weapons.

Demi-Ura too now had a leather west underneath her black cloak. Besides the magic, she still used her bladed tail as the main weapon. Also, she had a bunch of throwing daggers under her cloak as an extra weapon.

Tasha still had to obtain any armour of sorts, but it was okay since she was not expected to engage in melee. Her main weapon remained a crossbow, it underwent small improvements for range and power. It now had a small bayonet on its tip, but all in all, it remained pretty much the same weapon. On her shoulders, she carried a huge backpack where they stored most of their stuff. The shoulders straps were made so that it could be unclipped quickly dropping the backpack so she can get ready for ranged combat and stay mobile.

They worked together to destroy all the eggs but one, setting the stage for the [Event]. Then Sargon used pieces of chitin from [Armoured Ant] they had freshly killed to set up barricades. He took a large leftover piece of chitin to use it as a shield and then nodded to Tasha. It was a signal to start.

Tasha raised the last egg above her head and then smashed it on the hard ground. With the last egg destroyed the [Event] started and the ceiling began to rumble.

Just like before, [Ant Guardian] descended from the top with a cloud of dust, but this time they were ready.

“Take cover!” Sargon reminded his companions to hide behind barricades.

The dust settled and the mini-boss became visible. Tasha didn't idle and attacked it first before it could start spitting its acid. “[Bullseye]” She used one of her ranged skills she had obtained recently.

The crossbow bolt flew straight towards the ants head hitting its eye. Since the crossbow was improved and she as a ranger had more experience, the bolt pierced the eye.

[Ant Guardian] hissed in pain and spat acid towards where Tasha was. The small girl ducked behind a chitin cover just in time; the acid splashed on it. What they have found was that chitin was ideal for that, since it had immunity to it; acid would corrode both wood and metal but not ant chitin.

Sargon raised his improvised shield and closed the distance as fast as he could. The monster could not let him close the distance so it spat at Sargon. Like Tasha, he used the chitin to block the acid.

The ant continued to spit at Sargon as he closed the distance. Tasha was shooting bolts to distract it, but it proved ineffective, the monster was aware of her ranged attacks and no longer remained still. The bolts would hit the target to only bounce from the hard chitin.

“[Blast]!” Demi-Ura had finally fired the charged version of her [Dark Blast] magic skill.

The magic hit the ant straight in the head and exploded. The ant suffered a good amount of damage but it was far from dead.

Sargon had finally closed the distance and swung his coa at one of the monsters six legs. He invoked [Dismember] skill he had learned recently but by the looks of it the skill had failed. There was a huge gash at the leg joint, but the leg remained connected.

The overgrown ant shifted its body in response and swung its other leg at the Sargon, sending him flying away. The blow was strong enough to knock the air out of him even through his armour. The mini-boss then approached him ready to eat him whole. Bolts peppered it from the side, but they were ineffective for the most part, only a few of them managed to pierce the chitin.

Lilith couldn't just stand and do nothing. She too was closing the distance between herself and the monster. Just before ant could snap its mandibles on Sargon, Lilith used one of her new skills [Crushing Kick]. She raised her leg and fly kicked the injured leg shaping it in half. This made the monster lose its balance and miss its attack, buying her and Sargon a few seconds.

“[Heal]” She cast her magic while helping Sargon to stand up.

“Duck! [Blast]” Demi-Ura warned the two just before she fired empowered magic once again.

The two had to drop to the floor as soon as they stood up, a slight miscoordination but they couldn't complain. The blast hit the ant on the side, cracking the chitin and almost toppling the ant over. The monster sprayed a gush of acid vomit towards the two who were once again trying to stand up. It didn't fly far like acid spit projectiles, but there was a lot of it and it covered a huge area.

The attack was something they hadn't seen yet, it took them by surprise. Sargon jumped in front of Lilith in hopes to block it. He shielded his face with his arm and braced for impact. The acid splattered all over him, quite a bit of it had hit Lilith and she winced in pain. The acid ate at her left arm and leg, eating the flesh.

However, she was quick to react and began healing herself at that instant. It was painful but her healing skill managed to cancel the corrosive effects.

“Over here! [Taunt]” Sargon ran to the monster’s flank hoping to draw aggro away from Lilith.

It worked but the monster once again swiped at the warrior sending him tumbling away.

“Lilith, retreat!” Demi-Ura coordinated their actions so it doesn't become complete chaos.

Lizard woman ran behind one of the barricades while the ant charged at Sargon who was trying to recover. He had to retreat too since he had lost his coa while in the tumble. He still had a dagger, but it was not the ideal weapon.

“Blast. Blast. Blast.” Demi-Ura fired a succession of dark projectiles slowing the monster down.

Sargon used the opportunity to distance himself from the mini-boss.

“Tasha, can you shoot its other eye?” He asked.

“My skill is still under cooldown, I need more time.” She explained after poking her head out from the barricade.

The ant spat acid towards Sargon. This was the drawback from being too far away from the monster. If he was too far it would begin its ranged attacks once again. The acid splashed on his chest plate, droplets of it found their way behind the armour and ate at his skin. He could manage a little bit of pain, since it only was droplets. However, if they wanted to win this fight, he had to do something, it was up to him to distract the ant and buy some time for others to finish it.